Last week I set out to make a vegan adaptation of the New York Times’ perfect chocolate chip cookie. Made with bittersweet chocolate and flake sea salt, it’s the essential cookie. I was hot off a serious detox week and in need of something indulgent to completely negate my week of clean living. Mission accomplished.
My first go around was entirely experimental. I just added vegan substitutes on the fly… until the moisture and texture was about right. The hard part is you have to wait a full 24 hours before baking these beauties. And by the time I made it to the bake and confirmed I had it, I forgot. I FORGOT to write it all down. They were divine. My husband declared they were some of the best cookies he had ever had and insisted they must not be vegan. Insisted.
Now these won’t be the easiest cookies you’ve ever made. Mostly it’s the waiting and the wanting. I’m not exactly sure what happens to the dough as it chills for so long, but it’s entirely worth it. Don’t skip it. Just know in 24 hours you’ll have a sublime chocolate chip cookie to enjoy with a little afternoon coffee.
Tips: Buy good (vegan) chocolate and salt. These are our favorites:
Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chunks
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
Prep Time:
Yield:
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If you want to make smaller cookies, reduce the bake time by 2-3 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
- 1 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
- flake sea salt
Instructions
- Combine dry flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In the large bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment in place, add the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream on medium speed until it’s nice and fluffy. This might take 3+ minutes. Then add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
- With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix in. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and let it soften a bit. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 F. Using a ice cream scoop, scoop about 1/3 cup of dough and form into a ball. Place on the parchment paper and flatten with your fingers or the back of a measuring cup. Sprinkle lightly with flake salt.
- Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your cookies. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Can’t wait to try this, I love the regular recipe and was sad to miss it now that my son is dairy -free.
I’m not sure I’ve noticed a difference by waiting that long. Although some waiting was necessary for the dough to firm up before baking
It’s easier to form balls, freeze them and just take out a few at a time as needed.
Love that suggestion! Hope you enjoy the cookies 🙂
This looks so yummy! 2 questions: 1) I have a hand held mixer not a standing one. Will that work as well? 2) Unrefined or refined cooking oil? Thanks so much.
I had to write back to say these are awesome. Thank you! I’m new to vegan baking and am amazed how much difference a day makes in this version, as does flattening the ball of dough before baking. The ones I baked immediately had a weird gingerbread sort of flavor, not sure why? But a day later they tasted much more like the original recipe. I notice you don’t give measurements by wieght. Is that less important in vegan baking?
Hi PL! I’m so glad the recipes worked out so well for you! I agree – I have no idea what happens when the dough chills, but it improves the flavor and texture tremendously. I even freeze half the dough and when I defrost it later, they still come out beautifully. In regards to weight, I definitely should have done them both ways, but was afraid most home bakers wouldn’t have a scale to measure out the ingredients. If I have a some time next week I’ll add the weights in! Great suggestions 🙂
Hi Lalo – Yes, a hand mixer will work as well! For the coconut oil, I just used Trader Joes’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil — cold pressed, unrefined. Hope that helps!
These were amazing!!! Mind if I share them on my blog? Definitely saving this recipe!!
★★★★★
One questions, would they atill be GOOD if i used all coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Yes, I’m sure they’ll be fine. But the texture might be different from the original. If you give it a try, report back and let us know how it turns out!
Oh my lord! I used 1/2 flour and a mix of almond arrowroot garbanzo bean flour as I’m removing wheat slowly from the children’s diet, and its amazing! Thank you my son added it to our family cook book.
★★★★★
Love your adaptation! I can’t wait to try it 🙂 So good to know it works with different flour combinations.
I just made them today! They are very good. The chilling period is very important: it lets the sugars all mend together, creating a more toffee-like taste. It also helps maintain the shape!
Thanks for sharing!
So good to know! I wondered what the chill was all about. It definitely makes a difference!
Is there a reason why not to use the bread flour and cake flour called for in the original recipe? I have those ingredients from making the cookies the original way and want to try your recipe for visiting vegan friends. Did you just use what you had on hand or is it important to your version to switch to regular flour? Thanks!
If you have those on-hand, absolutely use them! It works either way, but the texture is slightly better when you have the mix of flours.
Can you use “Nina’s vegan butter” in place of store bought vegan butter?
Ohh I’m not sure! From most accounts, sounds like Nina’s is good for baking, but we haven’t tried it. Good luck and report back!
Do I have to chill 24 hours , is 15 hours ok?
The longer the better, but I’m sure 15 hours is good!
Balled these today and patiently waited thec 24 hours. I found them a little thick and dry. I wonder if I didn’t press them enough. I also used coconut oil in shortening form, melting it to oil. I wonder if that’s the problem?
That’s probably it. Shortenings are usually primarily palm oils with just a little coconut oil added. I think that would be the culprit before the pressing 🙂
Have you tried making them gluten free? If I just use an all purpose gf flour it should work, right?
@Allegra – You’re in uncharted territory 🙂 PLEASE let us know how it goes – a gluten-free option would be amazing!!!
These turned out fantastic!
★★★★★
SO glad you liked them! I just made them again last week and they never disappoint!
Hi,
I don’t think I can wait 24hours. Do I really need to do this step!
Highly recommended 🙂 You got this.
katya, i’m extremely impressed you converted this recipe. high fives!! i must try it and look forward to hosting a staunch vegan soon so i can try it out! 🙂
Hahhaha – No staunch vegan necessary. Your whole crew will love it!
Not a fan of coconut oil; how does it enhance the cookie?
Hey Cassia – For me, it improved the texture. But if you go all vegan butter, they will still work.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Thank you!
Varies a little based on how big you make them, but typically 2 dozen 🙂
I went to buy the Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate chunks you recommend for this recipe but the bag was not marked Vegan. The product details (on the bag and online) clearly state gluten free and kosher, but not vegan. Are you sure this product is vegan and why wouldn’t it be marked as such? I made the recipe with Nestle’s “simply delicious” dark chocolate morsels since the packaging is marked Vegan, so I’ll hope for the best and report back how that turned out. I preferred the idea of bittersweet chocolate paired with the sea salt and chunks instead of morsels, but hopefully this is good too…
Hey Linda! Hope the Nestle’s worked out. I double checked the Scharffen Berger and it’s still vegan. Here are the ingredients – CHOCOLATE; SUGAR; COCOA BUTTER*; NON-GMO SOY LECITHIN; WHOLE VANILLA BEANS. I’m not sure why they don’t label it vegan, but probably because it’s not a a certification process like Kosher or Gluten-free. There are loads of vegan products like that. Let us know how the cookies turn out! I’m sure they were great.
Thanks for the reply and clarification. Not being vegan myself, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for (or not) on the label so I went with packaging clearly marked V. I will try the recipe with Scharffen Berger next time. I made it with Nestle vegan semi-sweet chips and they tasted fantastic. I should say the batter tasted a little funny after the 24 hr refrigeration process, but the baked cookies were fantastic. This recipe makes quite a bit so I made one dozen full-sized cookies and froze the rest of the batter and have used it three times since for easy, ready-to-go, freshly-baked cookies. I experimented and used a 1/2 TBSP rounded measuring spoon to make a bunch of quarter sized dainty cookies for entertaining and my guests loved it. You’re right that the flattening process is important. The flaked sea salt really makes the recipe in terms of taste and presentation! THANKS! PS- my vegan friend raved and went back for seconds!
★★★★★
These were great. I didn’t refrigerate the dough before baking, so they made very flat, very large cookies. Doesn’t matter to me. The addition of salt to the tops really makes a nice difference. Typical chocolate chip cookies are sort of annoyingly sweet and the salt on top does a good job of remedying that. My mom left behind one of those pepper grinder type things with chunks of salt in it, so that’s what I used. I used homemade applesauce, so they have a very mild taste of apple, but that also works. I think the refrigeration insures that you don’t end up with super huge cookies, because everything doesn’t heat up to the point of flattening out.